Ceol na Mar

After a roasting hot July, August finally arrived and the heatwave was cooling down. It was time for me to visit my family.

So I packed and said bye to my flat as I was leaving my bed & my shit for a whole month!

As I made my way to the train station, the first stop was to Manchester to see my favourite man; Gayie and we went to see Evita with a BSL interpreter. As I am a huge fan of the film, the stage version was enjoyable especially with the very hot Marti Pellow from Wet Wet Wet fame •cue music• #love is all aroooouuuund#

It was lovely to spend time with Gayie and looking around Manchester, there are many wee gems that I would like to carry on exploring more. There is an Imperial War Museum, it was a bit interesting as there was an exhibition on war medics and it was fanaticising to see how medicine is used in the war zone.  The main display next door had huge pictures as well videos streamed on the walls. I quickly got bored as I didn’t understand, so imagine how I felt when I found out that if I walked 10 more steps I would have seen a wall with a BSL signer being projected signing the voiceover •facepalm•

Ta Gayie for hosting me and putting up with me as when I am restless I can be a pest!

After the wee trip to Manchester, I finally hopped on a train to Scotland. It was a long trip and I arrived late and finally got to the parents’ house, I pretty much relaxed for a few days before I headed to Northern Ireland * Footnote (N.I for short as I was informed by a reliable source that only a stupid English woman would say the full name!) with my parents and one of my brothers for a wee break in the rural countryside of Co.Down where one of my aunts own a home by the sea where my grandparents used to live.

This place is often called Rossglass in the family, and many members of my family who grew up visiting my grandparents have extremely fond memories of what is close to a perfect childhood.

It is where I locked myself in the bathroom when I was 3 and my grandfather had to break the door down, it is where I had to go to hospital after getting a shell stuck on my finger, it is also where I first discover Enid Blyton, blackberry picking, long walks in the countryside, playing in the sea, sitting next to a roaring log fire, tending the vegetable & fruit patches, my brother crawling in the kennel with Rebel, the dog my grandparents owned.

Sadly my grandfather passed away when I was nearly 5, which mean I did not really have an opportunity to get to know him and from what the family tell me, I would have loved the chance to learn from him. My granny passed away 10 years later which was extremely heart breaking as she was a wonderful lady whose grandchildren adored. Even now as I write this I still get upset at her unfair death- a short battle with kidney cancer, which lasted 6 months from diagnosis to her death. I really wish I had more time with her and to treasure the time we had so all I have left is my happy memories.

It had been close to 12 years since I last visited Rossglass, so when Mum said she was thinking about going there, I jumped at the chance to go and suggested my brother would love to go too as it has been far too long for both of us.

I always know when we are nearly there, I can smell the seaweed among the beach, the first sight of the Mourne mountains, the sound of the sea and the feeling of being at ease knowing that I am indeed home at last!

Despite being in Northern Ireland for a short period of time which meant a rush to fit in everything. We visited the Titanic who provided us a transcript via email so I was able to edit it and to make the font bigger. It was an awesome tour and highly recommend to anyone who want to visit.

          Afterwards a trip to Victoria Square, which Mum, hasn’t seen in years and to explore the shopping centre, which used to be a train station. I think!

            Two of my friends came to visit me in Rossglass and I think Waaman was pretty surprised by how beautiful the area is and that the sea was literally my front garden!

            Countless of visits to and from relatives who own houses nearby was fun as it enabled me to catch up with everyone and learning how to do a beach fire. One of my aunties went swimming in the bloody freezing sea, which I think she is bonkers.. well most of us do think that but it is also brave of her to do that!

I do wish my extended family would learn how to sign in order to communicate without my hearing brother having to interpret but they are a pretty awesome family though.

It was a lovely trip and I hope to go back there soon, esp. with friends :D

Fact: Ceol na Mar in english is Music of the sea

Staring at the stars... Oh fuck where did my tent go?!

It has been a while since I wrote something, so I am currently sitting in my favourite cafe- Tinderbox in Glasgow and having a mocha.

Tasty and MASSIVE!

My last entry ended when I was about to attend SignCircle as a volunteer.

Beforehand I was trying to work out what I would need for camping as it has been a while since I slept in a tent (the last time I slept in one was for Glastonbury!). with the help of Wolfie Snr and Wolfie Jnr (my godson) I managed to get the main things I needed.

When I set out to catch the train to Preston, I checked everything and I think my rucksack was a wee bit too big as there was plenty of room for extra useless items! I received a lot of strange looks as it was pretty much bigger than me!

 

I sent those pictures to Mum to show I was holding on tight to my luggage after the recent stolen suitcase!

When I got off the train, I was greeted by several Deaf Oz kids and their teachers from Bairnsdale, who I had met a few days before when they visited the university as part of their mini European tour and I said I would meet them to head to the campsite together.

It was a bloody hot day and a 30kg (I think! Easily could have been 10!) rucksack was irritating after a while. After a bus ride and a trek, we finally arrived and was greeted by Gayie :)

This was my first time at SignCircle so I was a wee bit unsure of what to expect, I bummed about waiting for Wolfie Snr to arrive along with his GF Vintagey, so they could set up the tent when I watched as I am bloody terrible with tents! Wolfie Snr claimed that it would take him 10 mins easily.... Half hour later........ Finally!!

I reported to the volunteer manager and was quickly told what would I be required to do as a Communication Co-ordinator, I got a cool t-shirt, it was black with the logo in red to reflect the colour of my team who wore red t shirts.

Upon meeting my team, I was nervous and a bit scatter brained.  I talked them through the programme of the weekend and what would be required of them and that I just needed to print off the timetable ready for everyone.  Then it struck me..... I hasn't asked them their names! Oops.....

Later on the timetables were divvied up and people was clear what they would be expected to do including 'On Call' during the night just in case of hospital trips or something!. I found the rota a challenge as it is not easy to make one for 12 people (thanks Wolfie Snr and Vintagey for checking that the rota was goof enough!) Imagine my dismay when one person failed to turn up which meant a quick shuffle of the rota, this was not the only time I had to change the rota during the weekend, I think I changed it about 10 times! Friday was a rather relaxing night and I went to sleep halfway mumbling a bedtime story for Wolfie Jnr.

Saturday rolled on and I was up early tweaking the rota again after I noticed that one workshop changed their time, and some of the communicators needed extra support when doing the voice over for a certain Scottish sailor who used the Scottish version of BSL which  provided to be so hard for them to understand as most had never seen that style before and I had a mutiny on my hands for the next day workshop so after a discussion with the boss, we then scrapped the voiceover. The sailor wasn't the only person hard to understand, a doctor well known for his theory on Deafhood was too much as well as most of the communcators wasn't not familiar with his work and struggled to understand what he was on about.

Thankfully, most of the rota worked out well and several adjustments was needed as some RSLIs was required to go to the hospital with people who needed treatments. (They all are fine! No serious accidents unlike that Star Treky bloke who broke his arm or was it a leg 2 years ago). NB. It was 3 years ago and a broken leg!

I panicked a bit when most of the communicators had to leave Sunday afternoon so I quickly worked out that I only needed 4 and only 4 stayed which was a relief! Most of them was great to work with and some I found difficult due to their level of confidence so I tried to encourage them that it is okay to learn form mistakes and not to feel defeated by it!

As I said before that it was my first time at SignCircle as well to volunteer in a senior role as well, I found out a lot of things and it seem I handle things differently than the previous coordinators, i hung out in the info tent mainly as it was easier for me to have people to meet me there then report to me etc and the info staff said they really liked this style as the previous people would meet in their tent, A TENT?!?! I would feel the pressure to be tidy! The info tent was a lot more accessible as it was near the food, mobile chargers and rota changes if needed as well it was next to the first aid tent.

People would often ask me if it was okay to charge their phones and I was in a mischievous mood so I would tell them that the fee was a life story and if it was interesting they could charge their phones. Most knew I was joking and for some it was fun to see their faces when the penny dropped for them.

I was really worn out by the end of the weekend and left a lot of conversations half way to attend to whatever that was needed to be done. Sorry people!

The weather held up well with minor rain during the weekend, luckily our tent was great unlike some other people's who had some flooding!
The food provided was really tasty and there was plenty of choices. One of the food tents was fun by the Punk Chef and his team.

I would recommend this camping festival for anyone as the campers seem to have a lot of fun as well the volunteers. I would like to attend again as a volunteer in a different role in 2015!

I was delighted to meet some people from Twitter, a lovely couple with 2 even more lovely kids! I am still in awe at their youngest's ability to eat chilli rice crackers without breaking a sweat!

Twitter is an awesome forum for the meeting of the minds as well to discuss, network, gain information and so on in just 140 characters!

I also got to see people who I haven't seen for years and was delighted to meet their kids, i squealed at the twins I met! so cute :D

My next posting will be about my trip to my spiritual home along with photographs!

Fact: it took me 2 weeks to recover from SignCircle!

Stolen wedding moments

Been a long time since I wrote an entry, my mind has been somewhere else lately.

After the Easter holidays, SLS hosted a Reunion ball along with CSU, the event was a success and people enjoyed themselves. It was nice to see old faces and to see that people do appreciate the work SLS does.

Picture of my favourite ladies

        The following week, SLS hosted a quiz to raise money for a local deaf children's charity. A good number of people came and enjoyed themselves. The quiz was hard in some parts but I thought it was fun and a good brain work out too! There was a round about Wolverhampton itself which provided to be popular, testing out the local knowledge!

I attended a meeting in London to discuss the possibility of trying to re establish BDAYouth as there is a strong need for some sort of organisation for young people between 18-30 especially in England. It was agreed that an open forum would be set up.

I watched Phantom of the Opera on stage AGAIN! love that show 

A shameless selfie

I also managed to hand in my dissertation after some initial confusion regarding the module which was frustrating for both the lecturer and myself! I passed this module which mean I can graduate this year!  What a relief. My mum was very very pleased and as a result went a wee bonkers on her Facebook and family email!

When waiting for the results, I had a well deserved rest, as I was feeling slight burnt out. It was exciting for me knowing that Deaffest was happening which meant new films and awards as well as lovely friends!!

I enjoyed Deaffest despite having a very heavy cold and a cough which tired me out too much to attend the evening event. I had a pleasant evening watching the Eurovision, a few months later I don't recall who won! Just that weird vampire bloke and the bloke who sang about working in the IT dept!

My landlord moved to Belgium and now is working for the EUD, when this was made news, I got several requests for renting the spare bedroom which was very strange as my landlord moved out honks ago to live in Bristol and a new flatmate moved in last September so people must have thought David was commuting! Sorry folks!  My flatmate is pretty happy where she is for now!

I also decided to apply for a PGCE post compulsory course at Wolves uni, more education in the place I struggled at? Yes I am very weird and a glutton for punishment!
I have been for an interview and is currently awaiting to hear if I have a place or not, it is been more than 10 working days now which is really frustrating for me as it would be nice to know if I have a place or not!
This frustration is also because my classification is not out yet, I was told it would be out on the 12th July and now they are saying the 24th which is very grrrrrrr!

I spent most of my early June just relaxing and catching up on tv as my flatmate was away so I could slob out and be a wee bit messy! I visited my parents in Scotland for a week as I  said I would keep an eye on my brother and the family dog when they went to some history thingy in Dublin, for the first time since my parents got Tara (the dog) I had to ask my baby brother how to feed her as I have never done it before!  I honestly am not an animal lover, I find them weird.

I would have stayed longer but I needed to prep for the PCGE interview and Stoney came over to prep me which was much appreciated!
The interview went well, I think and bloody hope so! Please people, keep your fingers crossed for me!

I ordered this really lovely 50s floral swing dress for a wedding in Newcastle, I watched this adored friend get married which was pretty wonderful! The wedding overall was really simply vintage and quite elegant, none of that OTT that seem to be happening these days with doves, and horse drawn carriages etc!

The happy couple :)

Really glad to be asked, it was so beautiful!

I was glad I got a chance to wear the dress as seeing my suitcase was stolen from the train when I was on my way to Newcastle! :0

With a smoking hot friend! 

I cannot understand why would anyone want to steal a suitcase that just had clothes and a few things. I was pretty glad that I was carrying my valuables with me such as iPad, passport etc! I made a report to the lost property office as well the British Transport police (the policeman was pretty cute which did not hurt at all!) then sped to the Metrocentre for a quick last min shopping for stuff I badly needed, it was frustrating as I didn't wanna have to have such hassle. Thanks to the parents and Char for helping out, I was really panicking ESP when I thought my tablets was in the suitcase. I later found them in my handbag yay!

I was given a crime reference number for insurance purposes and this peeved me as who would take out travel insurance for a train trip?! Later on the week, I received an email from my bank letting me know that the charge for my account would go up by an extra £2, and there was a list of benefits which included travel insurance......! It seem I upgraded my bank account last year to get mobile insurance and I kinda of forget about this! I contacted them and it was confirmed that I could claim for UK travel as long it was more than 25 miles from home, a minimum of 2 nights away and the trip was pre booked. I met all of these requests so I have typed up a letter detailing. What happened, where when what why etc as well as a list of things that was stolen, a list of things I had buy to replace at short notice etc.

I was annoyed when they said they couldn't cover perishables such as make up, toothpaste, shampoo and so on as some stuff I had collected/was given and was pretty expensive!   Bahhhhhhhhh! But better than nothing so I hope they will approve my claim and give me money to replace stuff!

My flatmate is away YET again so I am bumming about the flat feeling rather lonely, so I checked the cinema listings and decided to have a cinefest week :)

Monday- Monsters University
Tuesday - Now you can see me
Wednesday- the internship

My next posting will be about a camping festival and twitter!


Fact: I love 50s dresses and owe 4 so far  :)

Hopping rabbits and melty eggs

We now are in March! Blimey time does fly quickly doesn't it!

Now spring is in the air (sort of!) I have been making strides with my dissertation and my first draft is done, now for the boring part- checking the work for spelling and grammar checks!

             Some people have told me that they are confused about why I haven't finished my dissertation, well people who have been following my blog will know I was having difficulties maintaining three work placements as well finding it hard to get excited about writing a dissertation with other essays on top which meant I neglected the dissertation and scraped together a plausible piece of work which failed (clearly!).

            When I re-took this module again in September 2012, I was hoping to have it done by January 2013 in time for the mid-year graduation but illnesses and depression got in the way YET again as well struggling with a lecturer who kept putting down my use of the English language. So I returned to my previous dissertation and am in the process of polishing it.

            When I read it again, I cringed at how badly written it was and how much stuff I missed out! My Deaf Studies lecturer said it was a good piece of work but a lot needed to be done regarding referencing, layout, and restructuring to meet the History department's standards. (BORING)

So I'm hoping to have it all done by end of April, it could be done a lot quicker but I only have one hour of English support a week which mean a very sloooow progress! If anyone fancies proof reading 10 thousand words on the Milan Congress 1880- let me know! It would be a great help!

I went to see the audiology recently as I wanted new pair of hearing aids as I haven’t worn my current ones for a long time due to rubbish earmoulds and the hearing aids never sound right to me! So after failing to book an interpreter for the appointment as I couldn’t get through at all so I turned up for my appointment at half 9 in the morning.

            I first had a hearing test and was told to wait in the waiting room for someone to come along. So I was called up and met an audiologist who looked very sad and said to me that she had bad new for me…. It seem that I have suffered a hearing loss, which made me Deaf, and she was very sorry to break that news to me.

            My reaction- I laughed and told her that I have already known that all my life! I have a deaf family and all that. She assumed I was a new patient with an unexplained hearing loss looking for help. Poor lady, I don’t think she did not know how to deal with me!

            She then found a member of staff that has level 2 BSL that is better than nothing. The signer was nice and did my moulds and while we were waiting for them to set, we talked about possible hearing losses so she compared my last hearing test in 2008 and the recent one that day- it was EXCATLY the same! She was gobsmacked!

            We then discussed how the audiology could provide better access for deaf people in terms of booking interpreters, alternative methods of contact. I was given a direct number for a senior member of the staff oo eh!

            A mere 4 weeks later I received brand new spanking hearing aids and tested them out by watching an interpreted performance of Cats in the Grand theatre. Was pleased they did not whistle! This time I had an interpreter at the audiology, which meant communication was better and I could really ask questions and ask for advice about tinnitus as I have been having a really rough time with it. They have said they will refer me to an ENT doc to chat about it!

           

I seem to have a lot of medical appointments! I also went for a smear test which I believe is very important, two women I knew kept putting their off as they thought it wasn’t important and couldn’t be bothered to find the time for an appointment. Due to me nagging one of them to go and have it done, it was discover that she had pre cancerous cells and it was caught early and needed laser treatment. If it were left for another month or so it would have progressed to cervical cancer.

            So the other woman realised that she have not had a smear test for a long time so she went and the results was pre cancerous cells which was given treatment as well.

            This scared the crap out of me and I always arrange a smear test when it is time for a check up. It is only a few minutes of discomfort and smear tests these days are better than when I was younger (in Scotland women over 21 have smear tests unlike in England where women over 25 are tested), it was a metal thingy, which was horrible!

            So if you have got a letter asking you for a smear test check, go for it! The nurses/doctors has seen it all before so nothing to be embarrassed of!

http://www.mysmeartest.co.uk

 March was indeed a busy month for me; I went to a vintage fair in town, which was small and cute.

University of Wolverhampton did an open day for deaf students and deaf people who was considering going to university. The CSU did this in partnership with DEAF- Deaf Education Advocacy Fellowship. The organiser Esmail was keen to raise awareness to deaf people that they can go to university as well provide access to information such as DSA, funding etc.

         The day was successful despite some snow! There were some workshops, some talks, and a guided tour. I got a very lovely teal hoody to keep: D

         DEAF CIC will be doing more open days with various universities, look here for more information- http://www.deaf-fellowship.org

                                            TALKING TO ONE OF THE LECTURERS

I am looking forward to April as there will be a University ball for Deaf students, interpreting and Deaf Studies students as well members of the SLS (Sign Language Society which is similar to D/BSL based in ULAN) as well Deaf Graduates from University of Wolverhampton. This will take place in the Molineux Stadium (Wolverhampton Wanderers' home ground).

            The S.E.C (Student Enabling Centre formerly know as C.S.U- Communication Support Unit) based in the university is celebrating their 20th anniversary providing BSL interpreters, manual and electronic note-takers to Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.

              It has been a long road to organising this event! There are currently only three Deaf female students (It was hard to find volunteers at all!) liaising with the S.E.C organising this event.  I'm one of the students helping; I am selling tickets (which I am honestly rubbish at! give me PR and money any day, I'm better at these!) I have to say I am obsessive and think a lot about promoting etc.- maybe I should try event planning one day... mm food for thought!

The photo below is from the SLS Ball 2012- I was rather sloshed and I also won the Best-Dressed female :D

I am managing well with my depression, but some times it can take a turn for the worse, which led me to staying in bed for 3 days recently, crying and feeling quite alone. Some friends managed to cheer me up a bit but it wasn't enough to pull me out of the dark hole I was in. I wouldn't blame my friends if they saw my tweets/texts and ran a mile as I am aware how hard it is to support someone with a mental illness when they don't understand WHY it is not simple and easy to get over it quickly or why they have depression in the first place.

I found a quote that really explain how I feel about people when I am in a dark hole-

            “Some friends don't understand this. They don't understand how desperate I am to have someone say, I love you and I support you just the way you are because you're wonderful just the way you are. They don't understand that I can't remember anyone ever saying that to me. I am so demanding and difficult for my friends because I want to crumble and fall apart before them so that they will love me even though I am no fun, lying in bed, crying all the time, not moving. Depression is all about if you loved me you would.”

― Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation

Maybe this will help people to have a insight of how a depressed person thinks as well maybe try to understand, it may not make sense but I can assure you that many depressed people do think that way and it does make sense to them.

            It is like being a hearing person trying to understand Deaf culture but they can never fully understand til they are deaf themselves- this is similar to a person who does not have depression trying to understand how a depressed person feel.

Ach one day! :D 

I was filmed by See Hear on the topic of depression. it was ironic for me as i was officially diagnosed on 19th March 2011, revealed to people that i had depression on 19th march 2012 and was filmed on 19th march 2013! Spooky!

When this will be showed- i don't know when but hopefully one day as it was really hard for me to do it and i would love people to see me and maybe understand.

I am off to visit my parents (and brothers) for Easter, and to get some chocolate eggs!

Fact: Cadbury chocolate is the best! Other chocolate brands are crap

            

Holy Smokes- a jab or 5!

Holy smokes! 

It had been over a month since I last wrote a blog! January and February so far have been keeping me busy!

I will pick up from where I left off which was my visit to Bristol which I enjoyed and loved looking around vintage shops :D  more roses the better!  I struggled as I was often so tired- this leads me to explaining why I have been ill for a wee bit.

Before Christmas I visited my GP, using a BSL interpreter I explained my frustrations of not being able to sleep, feeling very anti-social, having pins and needles in my hands & feet, extremely BAD tinnitus, restless legs and being really forgetful.  The GP wanted to test my blood to see if there was something wrong.

So I went for a blood test, explaining how I needed a child sized needle (a butterfly) as I pretty much don’t have any veins left from the countless of blood tests I have had!  I got a letter from the GP quite quickly asking me to come in. so I trotted off again to the GP and I was told I would need to have a blood test again due to an alarming low level of B12 and that it could be a typo but the GP wanted to double check, so more blood given yet again and was given a list of B12 rich food to eat so I went to see my parents for Christmas which was lovely.

On my return I had a letter from the GP asking me to make an appointment YET again! So called via typetalk and was given one on the spot for a few hours’ time. So off I went. The results were that I did indeed have a very low level of B12 and folic acid.  The treatment?  FIVE injections of B12 in 2 weeks! Luckily I don’t mind needles and was okay with having them. So I made 5 appointments with the nurse.  I didn’t mind going for the injections but the weather... bloody snow made it difficult for me to get to the surgery and it was really tiring for me to trek there and back!

I managed to complete the course of injections and am happy to say I feel so much better and far more alive these days!  (Sorry to my twitter followers for moaning about the injections and the weather!)

I did some research on B12 and what it is. It is a vitamin that help the blood cells to move around the body as well produce new blood cells  so I was tired and my anti-depressants wasn’t working as the blood cells wasn’t moving around properly and wasn’t absorbing the tablets. It seems having IBS was a major factor in the ability of absorbing B12.

Here is a brief summary of B12 deficiency

You need vitamin B12 for many important processes inside your body, particularly for making red blood cells and keeping your nerves healthy. If you don’t have enough vitamin B12, your body won't be able to make as many red blood cells as normal. They will also be abnormally large and won't last as long as they should.

If you don't have enough red blood cells, your tissues and organs may not get enough oxygen. This leads to the symptoms of anaemia.

Symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia

Common symptoms of all types of anaemia include:

• feeling tired
• looking pale
• increased breathlessness
• feeling your heart racing or thumping (called palpitations)

If you have vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia, you may also develop problems such as:

• yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (known as jaundice)
• headaches
• poor appetite
• a sore mouth and tongue
• poor concentration and forgetfulness
• depression
• tingling, numbness and burning in your feet, hands, arms and legs

These symptoms may be caused by problems other than vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia. If you have any of these symptoms, see your GP for advice.

Causes of vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia

• Diet. - Vitamin B12 is only found in meat and animal products, so if you follow a strict vegan diet, you may not get a sufficient amount for your needs.
• Surgery. - You can become deficient in vitamin B12 if you’ve had surgery to remove part of your stomach.
• Bowel disease. - If you have coeliac disease, for example, it can interfere with vitamin B12 absorption.
• Medicines. - Certain medicines, such as neomycin, metformin and anticonvulsants, can interfere with vitamin B12 absorption.

DO see your doctor and check if they are able to provide interpreters (They SHOULD). I have noticed that my health is much better due to having a BSL interpreter at my appointments which mean the GP can ask me questions and I can answer them clearly as well clarify things I find hard to understand.

This greatly affected how I coped with depression as it mean I was so tired and I couldn’t do the things I needed to do which in turn made me feel useless and hopeless. What a vicious circle. My anti-depressants dosage has been upped and I’m dealing with the change by seeing my counsellor as it help to talk things through with a neutral listening ear.

Has anyone seen SEE HEAR lately, they have been doing a good job of opening up the world of mental illnesses to the general public.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qslww/See_Hear_Series_32_Episode_32/

See Hear invites comedy Facebook phenomenon the BBDeaf News to its offices. Internet stars Tammy and Micole give their Valentine's Day guide to deaf dating. Plus a catch-up with sign song artist Jayne Fletcher who has recently won a Prince's Trust young achiever's award for struggling to overcome difficult times to set up her own business.

Jayne herself has depression and describes what it is like to have a mental illness and to be able to overcome it. We need more people like her to speak out about having a mental illness- it is hard and a brave thing to do.

If this subject isn’t for you there is some light hearted comedy as well.

See Hear also did a tribute to a talented Deaf Poet who took her own life 20 years ago. This programme was very moving and made me cry. Who know if she was still alive maybe she would have felt strong enough to talk about how she was feeling and felt she could seek for help.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qxz14/See_Hear_Series_32_Episode_33/

See Hear pays tribute to iconic sign poet Dot Miles who died just over 20 years ago by taking her own life. She was the inventor of beautiful sign poetry and had an enormous influence on deaf culture. This looks at the unique quality of her work and her important legacy.

See Hear also visits jewellery artist Rosie White who takes her inspiration from nature and whose business is going from strength to strength.

If you find this subject of depression, mental illnesses and suicide difficult, read my previous blogs where there are links to people who can help you.

If you find this subject difficult TO understand- check out this link

http://www.depressionquest.com/

A brief summary of the game (taken from the webpage)

Depression Quest is an interactive fiction game where you play as someone living with depression. You are given a series of everyday life events and have to attempt to manage your illness, relationships, job, and possible treatment. This game aims to show other sufferers of depression that they are not alone in their feelings, and to illustrate to people who may not understand the illness the depths of what it can do to people.

Hopefully this can give people an idea of what it is like to live with depression. It is not easy and harder to be told to cheer up when things are bleak.

Please donate to them if you can.

I would love some feedback on what you think of the game.

As always you can reach me at bookygeeky@gmail.com, the comments section or twitter @BookyGeeky

Fact: I like Apple products and I’m never without my Ipad or my Iphone but please don’t mug me if you see me!